In 1995, Debra Galant was asked to write a cover story for the Jersey section of the New York Times on the subject of suburban etiquette. Little did she know that suburban etiquette would become her beat, or that the story would lead to a five-year column in the newspaper of record.

Since that first cover story, Debra has written hundreds of articles and columns for the Times, on topics ranging from kitchen envy to nudist colonies. She has also penned many magazine-length articles, including profiles of Princeton University’s controversial ethicist Peter Singer and of Montclair cosmetics guru Bobbi Brown.

In May 2004, Debra started Baristanet.com, one of the first of new breed of websites that use the blog platform to cover local news. Baristanet was named the #1 placeblog in America in January, 2007.

Debra has also written for New York Magazine, New Jersey Monthly, Barron’s, Worth and other national magazines. When her husband brought home a Tamagotchi toy right after it was introduced in the U.S. in 1997, Debra quickly saw it as a metaphor for incompetent parenting. That became a commentary on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” She has also recorded several radio features for public radio’s “Marketplace” and is a regular speaker at blogging forums and women's groups.

RATTLED, Debra’s first novel, was inspired by a January 2002 Times column she wrote about the endangered timber rattlesnake. RATTLED was both a Book Sense pick and a New York Times Editors' Choice selection.
Her second novel, FEAR AND YOGA IN NEW JERSEY, also a Book Sense pick, was released in 2008. A third novel, CARS FROM A MARRIAGE, was published by St. Martin's Press in 2010.

A native of Virginia, Debra now lives in north Jersey with her husband, AP radio correspondent Warren Levinson, and their two children.